Whence  Came  The 
Red  Man? 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


GOD,  the  Great  Spirit,  is  the  maker 
and  keeper  of  all  nations.  He  has 
revealed  himself  to  all  peoples  and 
has  left  his  witness  among  them.  The 
Indians  have  a  history  that  tells  how 
God  first  brought  their  fathers  to 
America,  and  how  his  son  visited  them 
and  taught  them  the  true  religion,  and 
this  story  was  written  on  plates  of  gold 
and  preserved  for  the  Indians  of  today. 
The  Book  of  Mormon  is  that  history. 
Will  you  read  it's  story? 


The  True  Story  of  the  Indians. 

The  Indians  are  of  the  Chosen  Seed  of  Israel.  The 
promises  of  God  are  rich  in  their  behalf,  and  he  has 
not  left  them  without  a  witness  of  his  love  nor  with- 
out a  record  of  their  past.  His  watchcare  has  been 
over  them  since  time  began  and  he  purposes  yet  to  do 
a  mighty  work  among  them.  The  story  of  the  Indian 
forefathers  is  on  this  wise: 

Long  centuries  ago,  many  generations  before  the 
white  man  discovered  the  shores  of  America,  God  led 
a  good  man  named  Lehi,  and  his  four  sons  and  their 
families,  out  and  away  from  the  great  and  wicked 
city  of  Jerusalem  which  he  was  about  to  destroy,  and 
promised  to  take  them  to  a  new  land.  God  loved 
Lehi  for  his  righteousness,  and  he  determined  to 
preserve  this  man  and  his  family,  and  of  Lehi's  four 
sons  and  their  children  he  said  that  he  would  raise  up 
a  great  nation  of  people. 

Lehi  and  his  four  sons,  Laman,  Lemuel,  Nephi,  and 
Sam,  together  with  their  families,  traveled  many 
days  by  land  through  the  wilderness  and  at  length 
came  to  the  shores  of  many  waters.  Here  God  told 
them  how  to  build  a  ship,  and  out  of  trees  and  logs 
they  built  a  ship  of  most  curious  design.  It  was  so 

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shaped  that  it  would  ride  the  water  in  all  kinds  of 
weather,  and  no  waves  could  enter  it,  even  in  time  of 
storm.  When  this  wonderful  boat  was  completed, 
Lehi  and  his  four  sons  and  their  families  started  out, 
and  for  many  days  the  Great  Spirit  caused  a  wind  to 
blow  over  the  waters  and  this  wind  carried  the  ship 
steadily  forward  until  the  shores  of  America  were 
reached. 

America  was  then  an  uninhabited  land.  In  all  the 
regions  north  and  south  ro  man  was  present  and  all 
was  a  great  wild.  Lehi  and  his  four  sons  set  to  work 
with  all  their  strength  to  tame  this  wilderness,  and 
they  dug  into  the  mountains  for  ore  and  planted  seed 
in  the  ground  for  food.  They  multiplied  rapidly  and 
in  a  few  generations  they  had  grown  into  a  large 
nation  of  people.  They  spread  out  in  all  directions 
and  built  great  cities  and  towns,  the  ruins  of  which 
may  be  seen  to-day. 

Thus  it  went  on  for  six  hundred  years,  and  then 
one  day  a  great  cloud  came  over  the  face  of  the  sun ; 
it  became  dark  at  mid-day  and  in  that  darkness  no 
man  could  see  his  hand.  The  earth  shook  as  in  the 
grasp  of  a  giant,  and  where  valleys  had  been,  moun- 
tains were  raised,  and  where  great  cities  had  stood, 
water  came  and  buried  them  many  fathoms  deep.  All 
nature  groaned  out  in  suffering,  for  the  Son  of  God 
had  been  slain  in  Jerusalem  and  his  body  had  been 
nailed  to  the  cross. 


President  Frederick  M.  Smith. 

This  is  the  prophet  and  leader  of  the  church. 
Many  of  the  Indians  know  him  well.  He  has 
spent  much  time  among  them  and  has  great 
faith  in  the  future  of  the  Indian  people. 


The  people  of  this  land  were  in  a  great  terror  and 
knew  not  what  to  do,  when  suddenly  there  came  a 
great  light  again  and  Jesus  stood  in  their  midst  and 
walked  and  talked  with  them  and  quited  their  fears. 
He  told  them  that  they  were  "the  other  sheep  of  his 
fold"  of  which  he  had  spoken,  and  he  told  them  he 
had  come  among  them  to  bless  and  help  them. 

Thus  he  talked,  and  he  chose  from  among  them 
twelve  men  and  made  them  apostles,  and  others  he 
chose  to  be  elders  among  them,  and  he  built  his 
church  as  he  had  done  at  Jerusalem,  and  when  he 
had  finished  his  work  he  ascended  up  into  heaven 
and  in  his  place  left  the  Comforter  or  the  Spirit  of 
peace  to  dwell  with  them.  Before  he  left  he  promised 
that  he  would  always  remember  them,  and  that  even 
though  they  might  wander  from  his  path,  he  would 
one  day  return  and  that  they  should  have  a  part  in 
building  up  his  beautiful  city  of  Zion  in  the  last  days. 

That  was  nearly  nineteen  hundred  years  ago,  but 
all  these  facts  were  written  on  tablets  of  gold  and 
the  history  was  handed  on  from  father  to  son.  For 
many  years  the  people  remembered  the  gentle  teach- 
ings of  the  Son  of  God  and  all  lived  together  in  peace, 
prospering  greatly,  but  at  last  they  divided  into  two 
great  camps  and  began  to  quarrel  bitterly  among 
themselves.  Part  of  them  became  the  color  of  fine 
copper  and  the  red  brethren  fought  against  the 
white.  Finally  the  white  brethren  so  far  forgot  the 

4 


Joseph  Smith. 

God  chose  this  young  man  to  restore  the 
history  of  the  Indians.  He  translated  the 
gold  plates  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  and  or- 
ganized the  true  church.  A  mob  killed  him  in 
1844. 


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In  the  pages  of  this  book  the  Indian  will  find 
the  true  story  of  his  past.     He  should  read  it. 


good  teachings  that  God  permitted  them  to  be 
destroyed.  The  last  white  man  of  them  all  was  com- 
manded to  take  the  plates  of  gold  on  which  the 
history  was  written  and  make  a  stone  box  in  a  hill- 
side and  then  bury  the  plates  deep  away.  God  said 
then  that  in  a  future  time  he  would  reveal  this  hid- 
ing place,  and  that  this  record  should  come  forth  that 
the  red  man  might  know  from  whence  he  cam  3,  and 
that  he  might  realize  that  God  had  not  forgotten  him 
nor  loved  him  less  than  his  brethren. 

Time  went  on  for  many  centuries  and  the  red  man 
forgot  much  of  his  learning.  He  divided  into  many 
tribes  and  learned  to  speak  in  different  tongues.  He 
was  free  and  happy  until  in  1492  the  white  man  came 
from  Spain,  and  from  that  time  on  the  red  man  was 
driven  from  place  to  place,  and  his  land  was  taken 
by  strangers. 

It  was  then  that  God  again  remembered  the  red 
man.  He  raised  up  a  young  boy  in  the  State  of  New 
York  and  led  him  to  a  great  hill  and  on  that  hill 
showed  him  a  spot  in  which  to  dig.  That  young  man 
was  Joseph  Smith,  and  the  stone  box  he  found  was 
the  one  hidden  there  many  years  before.  In  this 
box  the  gold  plates  were  preserved  and  the  Great 
Spirit  commanded  the  young  man  that  he  should 
take  them  and  by  using  a  wonderful  pair  of  glasses 
called  the  Urim  and  Thummim  he  would  be  able  to 


Apostle  Gomer  T.  Griffiths. 

President  Smith  appointed  this  good  man  to 
see  that  the  gospel  is  taught  to  the  Indian.  He 
will  have  charge  of  the  work  among  them,  and 
will  devote  his  life  ministering  to  them. 


read  and  translate  the  plates.  This  the  young  man 
did  and  the  book  he  translated  and  published  was 
the  Book  of  Mormon,  the  history  of  the  Indians.  He 
was  commanded  to  establish  God's  Church  again 
among  men,  and  the  same  Comforter  that  was  with 
the  Indian  fathers  was  promised  to  the  members  of 
the  true  church  which  he  should  establish. 

The  preachers  who  worked  for  their  salaries  fought 
the  New  Church  bitterly  and  finally  Joseph  Smith, 
the  prophet,  was  killed,  but  the  church  prospered 
just  the  same  and  to-day  it  has  over  one  hundred 
thousand  members.  It  is  organized  just  the  same  as 
Christ's  Church  in  the  early  days  of  America  and  at 
Jerusalem.  It  has  a  prophet  through  whom  the  Lord 
speaks  to  his  people;  it  has  twelve  apostles,  one  of 
whom  is  now  going  to  spend  his  life  among  the 
Indians;  it  has  elders  who  have  power  to  baptize, 
power  to  confer  the  Comforter  by  laying  on  hands, 
and  the  power  to  heal  by  anointing  with  oil;  it  has 
priests,  teachers,  and  deacons  as  anciently.  This 
church  teaches  that  all  men  should  have  faith  in  God, 
the  Great  Spirit;  that  they  should  be  baptized  in 
water  so  that  their  sins  might  be  forgiven;  that 
they  should  receive  the  Comforter;  and  that  finally 
when  they  die  they  will  be  raised  again  to  a  life  that 
never  ends. 

All  this  the  Book  of  Mormon  teaches  very  plainly. 
It  tells  the  same  truths  as  the  Bible  and  the  two 

10 


books,  one  of  the  Indians  and  the  other  of  the  Jews, 
testify  of  Jesus  the  Son  of  God. 

The  REORGANIZED  CHURCH  OF  JESUS 
CHRIST  OF  LATTER  DAY  SAINTS  brings  the 
Book  of  Mormon  and  restores  it  to  the  Indians.  Its 
missionaries  come  to  tell  the  Indians  the  story  of 
their  past.  They  come  to  bring  the  Indian  that 
Comforter,  in  which  the  Indian  and  his  forefathers 
have  always  believed. 

Frederick  M.  Smith,  president  and  chief  man  of 
the  Church,  has  great  faith  in  the  future  of  the 
Indian.  He  has  spent  much  time  among  them;  he 
has  visited  in  their  homes  and  they  have  eaten  many 
times  in  his.  This  year  he  is  sending  many  good  men 
among  them  and  wants  his  people  to  be  friends  and 
brethren  to  them  all. 

The  Great  Father  will  soon  send  his  Son,  Jesus,  to 
live  again  among  men.  Before  that  time  a  great  city 
of  Zion.  or  the  place  of  refuge  in  time  of  danger,  will 
be  built.  The  Red  Men  will  take  a  great  part  in  the 
Church  of  God.  A  place  of  safety  for  him  will  be 
prepared  along  with  his  white  brethren,  and  even 
now  many  Indians  are  helping  in  the  Great  Cause. 
Many  already  are  elders  and  members  of  the  church. 
May  the  Great  Comforter  always  abide  with  his 
children,  and  may  he  bless  and  help  them  all. 


11 


Published  under  supervision  of  the 
Publicity  Department 

Printed  by 

Ensign  Publishing  House 
Independence,  Missouri 
1920 


